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Rick Springfield allegedly threatened deputy during DUI arrest

May 16, 2011 | 12:05
pm

The night Rick Springfield was arrested for drunk driving, the singer allegedly threatened to kill a sheriff's deputy and his family, a detail that was not included in the arrest record, a report said Monday.

The "Jessie's Girl" singer was arrested in Malibu earlier this month after deputies saw him make "a maneuver away from the light" that prompted law enforcement to pull him over in his 1963 Corvette.

Deputies said they smelled alcohol on his breath and when Springfield was given a breathalyzer test, his blood alcohol level was 0.10%, which exceeds the California legal limit of 0.08%

Springfield, 61, was extremely angry when deputies said they would tow his $200,000 Sting Ray, law enforcement sources told TMZ.

"If you tow my car I will ... kill you and your family," he reportedly said. The arrest report, however, indicated only that Springfield had been "belligerent," without any specifics about a threat being made.

"It has nothing to do with the germane issues at hand, which is blood-alcohol level, field sobriety test, how the person was operating the vehicle," L.A. County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore told the Ministry about the reportedly absent details.

"Drunks say things all the time, and they say things that are ridiculous, notorious and vicious to cops," Whitmore said. "Our job is to get them off the street so they don't hurt other people. We don't take whatever they say seriously. It is rare that we get someone on a DUI that isn't abusive."

As for whether the alleged Springfield quote was accurate, Whitmore said he had "no idea" because he wasn't there.

"This happens all the time. People that are drunk even take swings at deputies."

"Someone has leaked information illegally," Springfield's rep said in a statement. "It's a sad reflection on society today that people in law enforcement who we look up to, pander to the celebrity gossip channels."

Springfield was arrested and taken into custody at the Malibu/Lost Hills Station, then released on a $5,000 bond after he sobered up. (That's the same station where Mel Gibson was taken after he was arrested "without incident" on a DUI charge in 2006.)

The D.A. has Springfield's file and will determine whether to charge him with DUI.